Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended the state's ban on outdoor brush burning until May 21. He says conditions across the state are still too dry.
This week may have been a wet one here in central and northern New York, but until this latest round of storms, grasses and fields have been dry and several fires have been reported across the region. So, firefighters at Fort Drum are on alert.
“With spring comes initial dryness. Even though the rain is coming, the vegetation on the range out there is dry,” said Kevin Hazen, who works in fire prevention at Fort Drum.
Roger Voss, a forester at Fort Drum, says this time of year the base's training grounds are vulnerable to igniting during dry spells.
"This week, I believe we are in a high danger status and you’ll notice that we are one degree higher alert than the rest of the state would report just because of the types of things that go on here at Fort Drum with the pyrotechnics and the type of training that they do,” Voss said.
But Voss said fires can be beneficial because they burn off old dead grasses.
“We have a lot of natural fire breaks, whether that is wetlands, roads or things like that so we are able to let some of those fires burn so there is less of a chance of a catastrophic fire getting out of control."
Fort Drum's fire department recently acquired a new truck designed to put out this year's brush fires.
